UFC 263: Terrance McKinney vows new celebration after 7-second KO marred by knee injury

Terrance McKinney failed to stick the landing as he celebrated his smashing UFC debut Saturday night. Pain.

The lightweight was excited about his seven-second knockout of Matt Frevola at UFC 263. McKinney climbed the Octagon fence, posed for the crowd and then dismounted. He wound up pulling a Gramatica and injuring his right knee.

He stayed on the canvas for a few moments, too.

He told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in a postfight interview he thinks he just “tweaked” his knee when he landed on his leg “weird,” but he also said the knee was “super tight” and that he will get an MRI.

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McKinney said he doesn’t usually celebrate that way, that he just screams. His first reaction when he was hurt, he said, was, “‘Ah, damn it, I wish I didn’t do that.'” He said he’ll have to work on different celebrations, “for sure,” for future fights.

And he figures to get more UFC opportunities (if healthy) after flattening Frevola with a big left hand. The 26-year-old had been in 13 pro fights (10 wins) before Saturday. The UFC called him Tuesday to step in for Frevola’s original opponent, Frank Camacho, who was injured in a car crash. 

“I definitely know I belong here,” McKinney told Okamoto. “I just had to sharpen up my standup. And I knew once my standup was complete, I could stand with anyone in the UFC, the top 10.” 

The standing, he has down pat. The jumping needs work.